National rugby sevens team Shujaa on Tuesday received a grand reception at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
Fans, officials and well-wishers gathered to cheer and show their support for the team's return to the World Rugby Sevens Series.
The atmosphere was filled with joy and anticipation as the players alighted from the plane and stepped on home soil.
There was song and dance as the team was welcomed back into the country.
The PS, State Department for Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs Peter Tum was among officials who were at JKIA to receive the team.
The players were handed banquets of flowers on arrival.
Shujaa returned to the World Sevens Series after a hard-fought 33-15 win over Germany in a promotion playoffs quarterfinal match in Madrid on Sunday.
It was sweet revenge for Kenya after a painful 19-17 defeat to the Germans a fortnight ago during the Challenger Sevens Series in Munich.
The Germans started strongly and took the lead in the first minute after Chris touched down at the corner for a 5-0 lead.
Kenya struck back immediately with co-captain Vincent Onyala finishing Kevin Wekesa's spadework with Tony Onyango converting for a 7-5 lead.
However, matters went south for Shujaa when Chrisant Ojwang was sent to the sin bin for a head collision against a German opponent. The Germans capitalised with Nikolas Koch crossing the whitewash as the Germans a 10-7 lead.
Ojwang redeemed himself on return by showing the Germans a clean pair of heels to touch down with Onyango converting for a 12-10 lead at the interval.
On resumption, John Okoth scored straight from the restart after bursting past two German defenders to score a centre-post try with Onyango converting for a 19-10 lead.
Maximilian Heid capitalised on a poor defence act by Shujaa to score a try and bring them to within four points.
However, Shujaa finished strongly with substitute George Ooro and Wekesa scoring a try each tries to send the thousands of Kenyan fans into delirium and the team back to the top tier of Sevens rugby.
Kenya’s Sevens top try scorer Collins Injera believes the composition of a local technical beach helped Shujaa reclaim core status.
